Monday, February 25, 2008

More Than A Team

While Matt's death has come as a shock to Chicago, it has revealed something to me about my team. By 10:00am today I had heard from no less than 5 of my teammates regarding this unfortunate accident. We all wanted to make sure each other were safe and promised not to do anything stupid on our bikes that would endanger our safety. It seems that we are transitioning from just a team to something more. The thought that a fellow cyclists wife had to take a phone call about the death of her husband put things into perspective for me. Now imagine your wife getting that call because you decided to do something stupid or risky. Hearing from my teammates this morning made me realize that we do hold a responsibility for one anothers safety each time we ride together. It also made me realize how tight we are becoming as friends and more.

Ultimately everyone is responsible for their own actions, but everytime I go out on a group ride I feel a responsibility for those around me. Hopefully those people feel the same and wouldn't do anything to put themselves and others in the group at risk. Also keep in mind that we as cyclists are ambassadors for our sport whether we like it or not. Everytime we are riding in traffic we are making an impression upon those drivers around us. And if we do something stupid it may not have repercussions then, but that driver that we just cut off may take it out on the next cyclist he comes across.

So as a team lets try and make the right decisions when we ride together. Because the decisions we make on our bikes could have a lasting effect on everyone around us.